Kuala Lumpur, September 14Sachin Tendulkar’s sizzling unbeaten 141 went in vain as the West Indies won the rain-hit second one-dayer of the DLF Cup tri-series by 29 runs based on the Duckworth-Lewis method here today.

Chris Gayle of the West Indies plays a shot as Sachin Tendulkar looks on during the one-dayer in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. — Reuters
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Pandove to contest BCCI poll again
Mohali, September 14
Mr M.P. Pandove, joint secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, will contest for the post again in the elections to be held on September 27 and 28.

Australia, Spain start favourites in semis
Monchengladbach, September 14
Olympic gold medallists Australia and 2005 European champions Spain have the right credentials to start as odd-on favourites in their semifinal encounters in the 11th hockey World Cup here tomorrow.

India hope to avoid booby prize
Monchengladbach, September 14
A battered and bruised India will be licking their wounds when they take a break ahead of the classification matches at the weekend in the hockey World Cup here.

Bhupathi-Ancic enter semis
Beijing, September 14
Mahesh Bhupathi and his team-mate Mario Ancic of Croatia showed immense character to upstage third seeded American pair of Eric Butorac and Travis Parrot in a three-set thriller to move into the semifinals of the $475,000 China Open here.

Sania unfazed by slide in ranking
Mumbai, September 14
India’s top woman tennis player Sania Mirza did not sound too concerned about the sudden steep decline in her world ranking and felt optimistic about her future in the game at the international level.

Sania Mirza gives tips to schoolchildren during a promotional event in Mumbai on Thursday. Sania will play in the Sunfeast Open beginning in Kolkata on September 18. — PTI
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Kapur, Ghei help India take joint lead
Kuala Lumpur, September 14
Shiv Kapur and Gaurav Ghei bounced back in style to take India into a three-way share of the lead at the midway stage of the World Cup qualifying campaign here today.

Shiv Kapur (left) celebrates with Gaurav Ghei after scoring an eagle during the second round of the World Cup qualifiers at the Seri Selangor Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. — AFP
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Santosh TrophyHaryana pound Pondicherry
Gurgaon, September 14
Haryana began their Santosh Trophy campaign with a facile 3-0 win over Pondicherry in a Cluster I league match of the 61st National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy at the Ch Devi Lal Sports Complex here today.

Kuala Lumpur, September 14
Sachin Tendulkar’s sizzling unbeaten 141 went in vain as the West Indies won the rain-hit second one-dayer of the DLF Cup tri-series by 29 runs based on the Duckworth-Lewis method here today.

Tendulkar seemed to have put India in the driver’s seat with his scintillating knock, propelling the team to 309 for five in the day-night encounter at the Kinrara Oval.

But the Windies won after making 141 for two in 20 overs, which was more than the required par score of 112/2 at that stage, before showers disrupted the proceedings.

Opener Chris Gayle set up the chase with a 35-ball 45 and the momentum was sustained by Ramnaresh Sarwan, 37 off 49 balls, and captain Brian Lara, 27 off 30 balls.

The West Indies had lost the opening match of the series by 78 runs against Australia on Tuesday.

India take on the three-time world champions on Saturday.

Earlier, Tendulkar announced his return to international cricket with a masterly century.

Tendulkar, who had been out of action since March after undergoing a shoulder surgery, smashed an aggressive 141 off 148 balls.

On a pitch of unreliable bounce, Tendulkar played an innings of high technical excellence to craft his 40th one-day hundred.

If his 13 fours and five sixes showed the little master at his best batting form, the 41 singles and nine twos he ran proved his fitness beyond doubt.

It was Tendulkar’s first full innings for India after the third and final Test against England earlier this year at Mumbai.

The champion batsman had batted a handful of deliveries in the rained out one-dayer against Sri Lanka at Colombo which lasted only 16 minutes and 22 balls in all.

Irfan Pathan yet again showcased his batting prowess with a 64 that dominated the middle overs while Suresh Raina's 34, in combination with Tendulkar's improvisation, provided thrust in the final overs.

The last time Tendulkar played a triple-figure innings was against Pakistan at Peshawar earlier this year.

The Mumbaikar had an early reprieve with his score on five when wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh grassed a chance of Fidel Edwards in the second over of the innings.

Signs of the variable bounce of the pitch was there early in the innings when both Tendulkar and captain Rahul Dravid were hit on the upper wrist by awkwardly rising deliveries.

Pathan was contemptuous against the Windies bowling, smashing six fours and two sixes in 68 balls. The dominant partner in the 125-run second-wicket stand fell playing a slower one from part-time spinner Chris Gayle on to his stumps.

The dismissal of Sehwag and Dhoni seemed to put the skids on the scoring but Tendulkar and Raina swung the momentum once again in India’s favour with a blistering partnership of 68 runs.

Awkward bounce worries India

India has expressed concern over the awkward bounce in the pitch, a team official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

India, electing to bat, made 309 for five but three of the dismissals were due to deliveries that rose hardly above ankle height.

Rahul Dravid fell leg before to Dwayne Smith early in the innings, while Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were bowled off deliveries that kept very low.

The matter forced ICC match referee Chris Broad to issue a statement to the effect that the unreliable bounce was a result of a “fault” in the pitch and that the next two matches would be played on the adjacent strip.

Mohali, September 14
Mr M.P. Pandove, joint secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), will contest for the post again in the elections to be held on September 27 and 28.

“The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has recommended the name of Mr Pandove for BCCI’s joint secretary’s post for the next term. This time the term will be for two years as per the amendments in the constitution of the BCCI”, said PCA president I.S. Bindra at PCA Stadium, Mohali, today.

On the preparation of the stadium for the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy matches, Mr Bindra said, “We are ready for the big event as all works in the direction of upgrading the facilities and arrangements as per the terms and conditions of the ICC, are on the verge of completion.”

When asked Mr Bindra about the illegal construction at the stadium, he said, “The whole plan about the construction was submitted with the authorities concerned. But if they find some irregularities, we are ready to pay the penalty”.

Monchengladbach, September 14
Olympic gold medallists Australia and 2005 European champions Spain have the right credentials to start as odd-on favourites in their semifinal encounters in the 11th hockey World Cup here tomorrow.

Australia would be looking to emulate their 1986 performance when they won the World Cup as they face Korea who would be playing their second consecutive semifinals in this quadrennial competition.

In the second semifinal, Spain take on world champions Germany in a repeat of the 1998 World Cup clash in Utrecht when the former won 3-0 before losing to the Netherlands in the final.

Interestingly, of the four semifinalists, only Australia suffered a defeat in the pool phase when they lost their opening fixture to Spain before bouncing back in style to win their other four matches convincingly. In the process, the Aussies exhibited their awesome firepower that has seen them score 18 goals, the most by any team in the pool phase. In their last pool match yesterday, Australia outplayed Pakistan 3-0, with Bevan George striking twice and Jamie Dwyer scoring one goal.

Four years ago in Kuala Lumpur, the Australians choked in the final after enjoying a great run through the tournament, losing 1-2 to Germany. It strengthened the belief that the Aussies lacked big-match temperament, something that their coach Barry Dancer admitted to.

“But the gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004 has helped our players to overcome this mental block, and the present bunch is keen to add the trophy missing in their collection,” said Dancer.

Australia enjoy a great World Cup record, having finished in the top-four bracket in the previous eight competitions. They were eighth in the inaugural World Cup in 1971, missed the next edition in 1973 and finished fifth in 1975. Since then, they have made it to the semifinals in every World Cup.

The Koreans, on the other hand, have had an up-and-down run at the international level and this is only the fourth World Cup appearance, having finished eighth, seventh and fourth in the previous competitions, but had to play the qualifying tournament in China earlier this year to book their ticket to Germany.

On their day, the Koreans have shown they can beat the best, like they did in their opening league fixture when they humbled the mighty Dutch, a result that took out the tournament favourites.

But Australia will be a different proposition for the Koreans who have won only seven matches in 52 head-to-head clashes with them. Australia were winners 33 times with the remaining games being drawn. On their recent tour of Australia, the Koreans were comprehensively beaten and their form points to a similar result tomorrow.

The other clash, between Spain and Germany, is expected to be close. Last year, Spain had won 3-2 in the semifinals of the European Championship and 5-2 at the Hamburg Masters earlier this year. Thus, they would be keen to extend their sequence of success against the world champions.

The Germans, top-four finishers in nine of the previous 10 World Cups, are still smarting from their 3-0 defeat in the 1998 semifinal against an inspired Spain.

The two have met 90 times with the Germans enjoying a 53-23 win-loss record. But on present form, the Spaniards look the better team and if their forwards can find a way through the tight German defence, then nothing should stop them from making their third appearance in a World Cup final. — PTI

Monchengladbach, September 14
A battered and bruised India will be licking their wounds when they take a break ahead of the classification matches at the weekend in the hockey World Cup here.

Clubbed with Argentina, Japan and South Africa in the classification matches for 9-12 positions, the Indians would be hoping to avoid going home with the booby prize.

After completing their league fixtures on Tuesday, the Indians have a three-day break until their first classification match against Argentina on Saturday followed by the position game on Sunday, when the World Cup concludes.

Four defeats and a draw in pool B has put the Indians in a similar situation they were in the 1986 (12th), 1990 (10th), 1998 (9th) and 2002 (10th) World Cup.

“Extremely disappointing,” was how coach Vasudevan Baskaran described the performance of the team.

The other day Baskaran had summed up India’s overall performance by stating “I have a lot of faith in this team,” but admitted that the deep defence was a cause for concern. We conceded too many penalty corners in the five matches and we also need to work hard on how to defend them,” he said.

He believed that a top-six finish would have been an accurate reflection of the team’s potential.

“The few soft goals that we conceded, especially against Germany, hurt us a lot. The players couldn’t pick themselves up from the early reverse,” the coach said.
— PTI

Beijing, September 14
Mahesh Bhupathi and his team-mate Mario Ancic of Croatia showed immense character to upstage third seeded American pair of Eric Butorac and Travis Parrot in a three-set thriller to move into the semifinals of the $475,000 China Open here.

In the edge-of-the-seat quarterfinal match, Bhupathi and Ancic waged a grim battle before beating the Butorac-Parrott duo 7-6, 3-6, 10-6.

In the semifinals, they meet unseeded Kristian Pless (Denmark) and Danai Udomchoke (Thailand).

The first set gave enough inkling that it’s going to be a hard-fought affair with both the pairs refusing to concede an inch without fight. Bhupathi and Ancic, however, handled the pressure well and clinched the tie-breaker to go one up.

The seeded Americans, however, turned the table in the next set and Bhupathi and Ancic could hardly do anything as their rivals walked away with the set to draw parity.

And once the decider started, both the pairs realised it was their last chance and matches each other shot by shot. Towards the end, Butorac and Parrott ran out of steam and looked jaded and Bhupathi and Ancic grabbed the opportunity to seal the match. — UNI

Mumbai, September 14
India’s top woman tennis player Sania Mirza did not sound too concerned about the sudden steep decline in her world ranking and felt optimistic about her future in the game at the international level.

Stating she had a phenomenal first year on the WTA circuit, when her ranking rose up to as high as 33 in 2005, the Hyderabad-based Sania today said this feat was not possible to be repeated year after year.

“It’s not humanly possibly to repeat it year after year. I am optimistic (about her future)”, the 70th-ranked Sania said at a promotional event for next week’s Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, organised by the WTA tournament’s promoters Globosport, at a suburban mall here.

Sania, whose short career has been beset by a spate of injuries, also did not feel threatened by the fact that her game has been “figured out”, and brushed it aside as a minor problem to be overcome.
— PTI

Kuala Lumpur, September 14
Shiv Kapur and Gaurav Ghei bounced back in style to take India into a three-way share of the lead at the midway stage of the World Cup qualifying campaign here today.

The Indians, who posted a second round of one-under-par 70 in the foursome format, took full advantage of the par fives as they came back into contention after being fifth overnight. They were the only team to break par on a tough scoring day at the Seri Selangor Golf Club.

The Indian pair shared the lead with Singapore’s Mardan Mamat and Lam Chih Bing and the Philippine team of Juvic Pagunsan and Gerald Rosales, all on four-under-par 138.

However, the start was rather disappointing for the Indians as they double-bogeyed the second hole after Ghei drove into the trees. But thereafter they recovered and converted birdies on the par-five fifth and sixth holes.

They did drop shots on the seventh and ninth but another birdie on the 11th kept them level for the round before Kapur produced a moment of magic.

Lying in the greenside bunker at the par-five 13th, the 24-year-old splashed his team’s third shot out actually landed into the cup for an unlikely eagle. The Indians also dropped a shot on the last hole after Ghei missed the fairway.

The top two teams after four rounds will qualify for the World Golf Championships-World Cup in Barbados in December.
— PTI

Gurgaon, September 14
Haryana began their Santosh Trophy campaign with a facile 3-0 win over Pondicherry in a Cluster I league match of the 61st National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy at the Ch Devi Lal Sports Complex here today.

In a one-sided match, Haryana outplayed Pondicherry in all departments of the game. The hosts, who led 2-0 at half time, however, could have won 5-0 but for poor finishing by the forwards.

Haryana will play Bihar, the other team in the cluster, on September 18 to decide who will go to the pre-quarterfinal knockout stage.

In today’s match, the hosts toyed with the Pondicherry players and made repeated forays, almost at will, and could have won by a bigger margin.

Bengal rout Rajasthan

Faridabad: Vimal Pariyar pumped in four goals, three in a row in the second half alone, as formidable West Bengal kicked off their campaign with an 8-1 pounding of hapless Rajasthan in a Cluster III match here today.

Accused of being a selfish player in the South Asian Games in Colombo, Vimal, an East Bengal recruit, silenced his critics by displaying his penchant to find the net.

Though Rajasthan were never expected to create much of a problem for Bengal, people hardly expected it to be such a one-sided affair.

Croatia’s Ivan Ljubicic celebrates after beating Kevin Kim of the USA in the pre-quarterfinal of the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on Thursday. Ljubicic won 6-3, 6-4. — Reuters

Indian colts in driver’s seat
Peshawar: After Tanmay Srivastava’s double ton (220), spinner Piyush Chawla (146) showed his prowess with the bat as the Indian under-19 team declared their first innings at a mammoth 611 for nine and then reduced Pakistan to 109 for six to tighten their grip on the second four-day match here on Thursday.
Resuming on their overnight score of 393 for four, India reached the huge total with Chawla leading the charge. Pakistan started disastrously, losing Ahmed Shehzad for a duck and Shan Masood for
seven. Brief scores: India U-19 (1st innings): 611 for 9 dec (Srivastava 220, Chawla 146, Mohammad Naved 5-118); Pakistan U-19 (1st innings): 109 for 6
(Moinuddin 53, Ishant Sharma 2-15). — UNI

Mark Vermeulen banned
London: Former Zimbabwean Test cricketer Mark Vermeulen has been banned from English first-class and league cricket for 10 years after an on-pitch scuffle in the Central Lancashire League.
The incident took place on Sunday when Vermeulen, who was playing as a professional for Werneth against Ashton, confronted opposition fans. He was restrained by club officials before his captain Darren Shadford, ordered him off the field. Shadford then conceded the match.
It was the final match of the season and Vermeulen was due to fly home on Monday. — PTI

Katoch Shield
AMRITSAR: The hosts entered the final of the Punjab inter-district Katoch Shield Tournament after defeating Ludhiana here on Thursday.
Amritsar won the match by 10 wickets on the third day of the four-day match. In their second innings, Ludhiana were all out for a paltry 128. In reply Amritsar, reached the target by scoring 45 runs without losing any wicket.
Earlier, the hosts had scored 272 runs in response to the visitors’ 190 runs in the first innings.
— OSR

Mini gym hall
Sangrur: Mr S.R.Ladhar, Deputy Commissioner, Sangrur, on Thursday laid the foundation stone for a mini gym hall at War Heroes Stadium. The hall, to be built at a cost of Rs 3 lakh, will be ready in 45 days. It will be fitted with state-of-the-art machines for which Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has given Rs 1.5 lakh.
The funds for the gym were provided by Mr Arvind Khanna, local MLA. Mr Ladhar also announced a grant of Rs 50,000 for the purchase of weightlifting equipment and repair of damaged equipment.
— OSR

District games
Sangrur: Competitions for men and women in eight disciplines will be held in the district from September 17 to 19. District Sports Officer Gursharan Singh said competitions would be held in athletics, badminton, hockey, football, weightlifting, handball, boxing and volleyball.
— OSR